Intel X-25M 80GB SSD Review

It certainly has been a while since we last looked at the state of Solid State drives, but this doesn’t mean we have not been keeping an eye on things for you, our loyal readers. Like a Master saucier who sips and sips and only when the stew is truly ready allows it to be released, we too have been biding our time waiting for the market situation to be just right before entering back into the SSD review arena. In the past we have looked at SLC based Solid State drives but we never did look at the first gen of MLC based drives and we intend to continue to ignore them as they did have major growing pains. Now that the second generation MLCs are out and 3rd gens are just starting to appear, we think its time to go back to the review board, update our tests and take another look at the state of SSDs.

Today we are going to start off our re-entry into SSD reviews by looking closely at the Intel X-25M. This well-known drive comes in a moderate size of 80GB and also 160GB. Our drive is the 80GB model but the differences in speed and performance between the two models should be minor; however, if you are looking for a cheap SSD, neither is what you would call affordable. The 80GB drive has been on the market for a little while so it is widely available from retailers and e-tailers alike, but this version goes for about $450 to $500 or $5.62 per GB for those of you keeping score at home.

Intel as a company needs no introduction as they are the 800lb. gorilla when it comes to CPUs; however this is their first real foray into “mainstream” SSDs. As such it should be interesting to see how effective the first generation is, and whether or not it suffers from “first version syndrome”. We truly doubt that it will considering if anything, Intel is known for their approach to solid QA so while it may not end up being a speed demon we highly doubt many in the near future will beat it in the overall performance category.

As such, this review is going to focus not only on drive performance, but also determine if this product will be our benchmark high-water mark for future reviews. In any case this is going to be blast; so sit back, relax and be prepared to be amazed at what an MLC based drive can do.